Larian Studios Forums Divinity - Original Sin Divinity - Original Sin - General romance in game - a doubt???

And if you really want to talk about older artwork for original sin, the female used to wear A LOT less clothes, with some more boobage showing(which is all fine with me) but it was due to massive player complaints they finally put some clothes on her.

You know, this art could just promote that this game has a co-op and that you're gonna have two main playable characters.

Are you seriously blind, in denial or just stupid? I'm not even trying to insult....I'm plain curious. If you seriously fail to notice the shape of those breasts and how overly accentuated they are you've got severe freaking issues. They make a point of having a valley the size of the grand canyon in between those boobs and my other character is holding hands with that grand canyon of boobage....not that I'm complaining. Not to mention the highly sexual coloring to bring attention to the special pats....with a double underline above and bellow the boobs just above the belly button and then the lips. Promoting coop my ass.

Riight. I'm not blind, just too old to get swayed by some cheap cleavage on the cover, which has nothing to do with romances, btw. And there's no need to call me names and get angry. You're just speculating, I'm just speculating. We can do this all day and not get any closer to the answer to the op question. That is, until the devs finally come swooping in, or when we'll finally play the game and see for ourselves.

...they are very deliberately creating certain perceptions and cultural associations....

I'll try to summarize the entire contents of the topic:



1) All images and texts that Larian during the development of Original Sin maded, practically promised that game will have romance.

2) In a recent video chat, (conveniently, short time before the release) it was denied.

3) We are angry and we want what was promised!


The problem is not what it means "Original Sin" or whether the game should have a romance.
Larian should not promise what did not plan to comply!

*snip*


I think they are deliberately playing with perceptions and cultural associations for narrative purposes, which is a very different thing and a common literary device. Of course we will understand their full intent better once we have played the game.




*Edited for punctuation translating from a word doc.

Oh, good. Well, we'll have to agree to disagree as I think you're exaggerating the situation and these 'implications'. All I hope for is that you can see that I (and potentially others) don't necessarily see the same extent or significance of romantic implications you do in the art and title. If it wasn't for the fact that Larian explicitly wrote about the potential to be lovers (on a couple of occasions, not a hundred) I wouldn't be expecting any 'romance' at all as it is commonly understood. Make of that what you will.

I agree that Larian will need to tread carefully to avoid a -1 honesty and -2 accountability to their reputation, if they indeed have removed this feature; as they did say it would be in the game, regardless of individual expectations about how it may be implemented. Hell, that was what got me to post ITT in the first place. I greatly respect Larian's honesty and transparency and so would call them out on it if it turns out to be the case, even if I don't particularly want romance in the game. I just really doubt it has been cut for the reasons I've previously described.

But this...this has all the makings of Original Sin...a man and a woman walking hand in hand through ruin and chaos with steely looks of determination and an air of seriousness and gravity that would perfectly fit an act of rebellion that is sure to be met with severe and unavoidable punishment. The colors are gone, everything is bleak except the taint....the highly suggestive red that symbolizes both blood and passion. A picture that evokes feelings that are easy to understand, romantic love and attachment is strong beyond reason or logical sense and a lot of people not only can do a lot of extremely dumb things in the name of because they're willing to risk it all for the slightest chance of success.

Hey Darth, I know I proposed we let things rest but I came up with a way to explain my point of view, that doesn't negate yours and hopefully makes sense to you

Let me put it this way. I don't think anyone would argue that based solely upon analysis of the artwork and title of the game, we could empirically know that romance is in the game. With no other information (eg those update and article quotes) it is a matter of probability, no matter how high or low. It is an assumption, no matter how safe or suspect. While it may be impossible to accurately quantify that probability (not least for the reasons I have been arguing: chiefly that our interpretations of the artwork, title and their connotations will vary and that multiple meanings can be derived from them) I think it fair to say that you consider it more probable than I do. And that's fine.

However, further complicating our argument is the definition of romance. What is romance? The broader the definition we accept the more probable the assumption. For example if it excludes a parameter such as sex the probability increases. If we take a very broad definition such as a feeling of profound intimacy between two people, it becomes highly likely even without the artwork, title or even Larian's statements, as this would be a likely possibility in any story featuring two protagonists that must work together in an interesting cRPG plot.

When I said that based solely on the artwork and title I wouldn't expect any romance as it is commonly understood, I mean that the common conception people have of romance is that it includes a sexual component (I dislike that definition but that is another argument entirely). So I am saying that based solely on the artwork and title, I would not expect the protagonists to have the option to have implied sex in the game, though I would still expect there to be an interesting and potentially intimate relationship.

Can you now see my perspective? I don't refute that the implications and connotations you see in the art and title are there (except your claim relating lipstick and showing skin to romance; though perhaps having elaborated my conception of romance this contention makes more sense to you now in context), I simply disagree with the extent to which they support the overall assumption. Further, I would prefer not to make an assumption at all, especially considering that romantic connotations are far from the only meanings that can be interpreted from the art & title, and that I prefer to take a broad definition of romance that makes speculating about its inclusion seem pointless to me anyway (personally).

My argument with you is essentially that I am challenging how safe you hold this assumption to be, not that you are unreasonable to hold it.

Yet we are also arguing somewhat of a moot point as we both agree in our conclusion that Larian have created an expectation of romance in the game. We need go no further than the quoted updates and RPS article for that. I would however hope that you can now see where I'm coming from, even if we still disagree about the extent of the ramifications of the art and title.